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I'm hoping some of you language mavens can help me out. This question has been driving me nuts for years. What's up with using an umlaut in the english language? Is this strange diacritical marking really part of proper english? I've seen it used in the New Yorker for years now, but everytime I ask someone it's like they don't believe me. Now I see that the Red Herring (tech business magazine) is using them too. (I saw: "Reëlection") Does everybody use them, and I've just never fnord noticed? Is it just some sort of ivy league pseudo european posturing? What's the deal?
- jim 11-13-2000 5:40 pm [link] [5 comments]

"You'll never eat Granola in this town again !"

I guess they'll come up with a term for the kind of Nader voter I am (NJ Democrats for Nader?). Like disingenuous so an so's...... What can I tell you ? I guess I was using the green party to shore up the Dems due to their abandonment (read shift to center) of the liberal left. In todays NYT James Dao caps off his column on THE GREEN PARTY with :

MR. Nader's campagne also seems to have caused squabbling within the Green movement itself. An Oregon based group called Greens for Gore whose members include a founding member of the green party, issued a blistering statement today accusing Mr. Nader of running a "reckless, irresponsible and totally counterproductive" campagne.

Judy Nicastro, a Seattle city councilwoman with both Green and Democratic ties, said she had scrapped plans to try to mediate peace talks between the two in Washington. "I am angry and disgusted." "I know I dont have it in me to be big enough to forgive Nader right now."


- bill 11-09-2000 3:15 pm [link] [7 comments]

Gettin snippy with it.

From Jims link to aol scoop page (thanks Jim !):

NBC's Shipman reports that, according to two Gore aides present at the time, when Gore called Bush to retract his concession, Gore told Bush at one point: "You don't have to get snippy" ("Today").

When I woke back up @ 3:45 am watching NBC tv they said Bush people (nice mental image) claimed W said : "do whatch gotta do"


- bill 11-08-2000 3:26 pm [link] [1 comment]

2012
- Skinny 11-08-2000 2:29 pm [link] [add a comment]

Our undertaker, one of his poems, and a little Q&A.
- alex 11-07-2000 9:48 pm [link] [1 comment]

well if gore looses cause of one vote for nader in the state of new jersey you can blame me for the shitty next four years. The long line really did not warent the 20 min pluss wait at ps whatch-ma-callit . I'm just saying the line should have gone a little faster. No reason for more than a few secs. of empty booth syndrom between votes. The polling clerks were real dolts.

Any ideas on watching this go down in real time on the net ? any new polls ? any hot scoops ? please post links. heard some analysts mentioning somthing about weirdness coming over from a late grudge report last night but couldnt catch it.
- bill 11-07-2000 3:16 pm [link] [7 comments]

Home at last. Thanks to all.
- alex 11-05-2000 11:21 pm [link] [1 comment]

patti smith is playing at the melkweg during the can-u-bus cup!!!
- Skinny 11-03-2000 2:57 am [link] [2 comments]

This is kind of silly, but I wanted to see how hard it would be to write. If you want to see a unique list of every word you have ever used on your page (sorted by the number of occurances, in descending order) you can do so at www.digitalmediatree.com/word_count.php3?global=x:x:x: (where x:x:x: is the page global location, for instance, this page is 0:1:1:) Here's my page, for example: jim's page.

(please note: this is highly unpolished. The script makes certain crude assumptions about what a word is, and other crude transformations on the html so that no unintended html gets into the print out. It just strips out most punctuation. Not so pretty, but still slightly interesting. I could make it better, but it's functional enough in this state for what I'm interested in.)
- jim 11-02-2000 11:10 pm [link] [5 comments]

News Alert:Due to an anticipated voter turnout much larger than originally expected, the polling facilities may not be able to handle the load all at once. Therefore, Demorcrats are requested to vote on Tuesday, November 7, and Republicans on Wednesday, November 8. Please pass this message along and help us to make sure that nobody gets left out.
- Skinny 11-02-2000 8:37 pm [link] [1 ref] [add a comment]

Talked with Alex. He's doing well in a tough situation. His fathers funeral is on Saturday, and we're hoping for his return soon afterwards. Maybe we'll have a small gathering here at Rivington St. if he's up for it. Until then, keep sending your good vibes.
- jim 11-02-2000 4:15 pm [link] [2 comments]

Reuters - Re: vote for sale - Wed Nov 1 12:58:15 2000
Calif. Shuts 'Nader Trader' Vote Swap Web Site

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California

authorities have shut down a vote swap web site aimed at so-called ``Nader traders'' -- people in battleground states who agree to vote for Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) if someone in a less contested state votes for the Green Party's Ralph Nader (news - web sites).

``We did notify the site manager that they were in violation of California election law and they did need to cease activities on the Web site, and they complied,'' Shad Balch, a spokesman for California Secretary of State Bill Jones, said Tuesday.

The site, (www.voteswap2000.com), was one of a number of Internet trading sites which sprang up after political pundits suggested vote swapping as a way of backing Nader without costing Gore the election.

According to the theory, Nader supporters in toss-up states sign up to vote for Gore. In exchange, their votes are ''swapped'' for Nader votes by people in states already solidly behind either Gore or Republican candidate George W. Bush (news - web sites) -- helping Nader toward his goal of five percent of the popular vote, the threshold needed for the Green Party to obtain federal matching funds for the 2004 election.

Balch said Jones sent Web site managers Jim Cody and Ted Johnson a letter explaining that their swap site ``is engaged in criminal activity in the state of California'' through violations of state laws prohibiting the brokering of votes.

``The right to free and fair elections is a cornerstone of American democracy. Any person or entity that tries to exchange votes or brokers the exchange of votes will be pursued with the utmost vigor,'' Jones' letter said.

In a message on the site on Tuesday, Cody and Johnson said they had turned their software off to comply with Jones' order. ''At the time we set the web site up we understood that what we were doing was legal,'' the message said.


- bill 11-02-2000 2:27 pm [link] [add a comment]

spoke to the good doctor wilson--sad but he seems fine--Nov 01, 2000 My father died this day in the first hour as All Hallows Eve slipped into All Saints’ Day. Sainted his memory. Hallowed his name. The Love he lived will power prayers for him. He who taught me now has learned the Mystery. Be at Peace.
- Skinny 11-01-2000 2:56 pm [link] [add a comment]

"To achieve the most left-wing result that is possible in this year's New York Senate race, trade unionists from Buffalo to the Bronx will eschew the Democratic line and cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton on the line of the Working Families Party--theorizing that because New York allows the fusion of votes from different parties, Clinton will read the results and know that she could not have won without the votes of people who object to the Democratic Party's rightward drift."
- dave 10-31-2000 10:07 pm [link] [add a comment]

Boo! Happy Halloween. Don't know what to do with all your pumpkins after the big day? Maybe you could donate them to the 2000 World Championship Punkin' Chunkin competition.
- jim 10-31-2000 2:25 pm [link] [add a comment]

50 8th ave voting headquarters are trying to decide our vote. we are concerned about the supreme court appointees/pro-choice etc, as well as getting nader his 5%.
what to do?
-lkb/wheel
drat fink, bill and all please advise
- Skinny 10-30-2000 12:50 am [link] [6 comments]

I'm proud to announce that this page comes up number 2 in a google search for 'procrastinators support group.' Who says search engines don't work?
- jim 10-28-2000 8:03 pm [link] [2 comments]

I was thinking that a good use for the now ubiquitous web haiku would be a collection of 404 haikus. Presently, if you request a page on this site that does not exist, you see this lame page (404 is the error code for page not found.) Wouldn't it be more interesting if you were served up a random 404esqe Haiku instead? Maybe something like:

Many grains of sand
can be hidden on the beach
you look in vain here

...only better. Anyone feel inspired?
- jim 10-28-2000 7:55 pm [link] [2 comments]

don't foret to turn time back 2 nite
- linda 10-28-2000 4:21 pm [link] [1 ref] [1 comment]

In case you're starving for bird news: A new study claims that "songbirds rehearse their melodies by singing in their sleep."
- jim 10-27-2000 1:11 am [link] [add a comment]

For those of you who remember the early days: this might be funny.
- jim 10-27-2000 12:47 am [link] [add a comment]

spoke to the good Doctor Wilson this am, things are a little complicated, are thoughts are with you...
- Skinny 10-26-2000 3:04 pm [link] [8 comments]

i didn't see digitalmediatree's booth at internet world...?!?!?
screamingmedia walked en masse to the javits center in red tshirts.
- linda 10-25-2000 9:57 pm [link] [2 comments]

Flynt vs. Bush. This one is going to be linked to hell and back in the blog world. But I'll bet it's still not picked up by the "main stream" press. Are they toothless, or does this not matter? Or is it in Flynt's court to actually print something first?
- jim 10-25-2000 4:12 pm [link] [2 comments]

Is this a good thing? Is it even possible?
- jim 10-25-2000 3:46 pm [link] [3 comments]